babs wrote: ↑January 15th, 2022, 5:28 pm
Super S wrote: ↑January 12th, 2022, 9:15 am
storewanderer wrote: ↑January 11th, 2022, 11:40 pm
That is interesting, every location I've seen lately and when traveling put up new signs. So I am very surprised there are still a number of locations without the new signs. Maybe there is some issue with Placer County, on changing the sign. I remember in the late 90's the store in Auburn had Thrifty signs up for months after the rest of the stores got Rite Aid signs, due to an issue getting sign permits. There used to be a Thrifty pole sign out by the road there, that was taken away and not replaced ever.
As of two weeks ago, I noticed that the Rite Aid in Warrenton, Oregon has not updated their signs. Rite Aid has a long-established store which started as PayLess and actually pre-dates even Fred Meyer, although a lot of new retail has arrived in the last several years. Rite Aid still has stores along the Oregon Coast in other towns, but I haven't been by any of them in a while and do not know if any have been updated.
The Pearl District store also has old signage. Perhaps wave 1 was taking care of stores with easier to replace store signs? But certainly could be an indication of stores closing as soon as the lease expires.
Rebranding is really a big effort for a retailer with as many stores as Rite Aid - especially when there is little consistency to the building designs, construction, and lease agreements which is typical of a company that grows through acquisition and rebranding as they have. I am sure they won't rebrand a store to be closed, but at the same time a lack of rebranding is not necessarily a good indicator of the performance or future of a store because it is such a darned difficult situation.
There are areas with strict sign ordinances, some that get stricter every day. There is a CVS in an old strip mall near South Coast Plaza that tried to just update to their slightly different logo (now they add that funky squared off heart and remove the / between CVS and the word pharmacy). They got caught by the city who had revised the allowance down for signage square footage in that area. Changing the sign for the revised logo meant that they were no longer grandfathered in and had to install new signage compliant with the ordinance. They had to change again. The "new" new sign is less than half the size of the original one. So if it's in an area like that they are better off keeping an old logo versus a new smaller sign.
Other restrictions can come up. A store I would believe would be a likely closure is Naples Island in Long Beach, which is just a few blocks from another Rite Aid in busier business district Belmont Shore. It's a slow store. But it did just get a new logo sign after a long battle. The Naples store is just a teeny bit closer to the ocean so they had to file with the coastal commission and planning commission for permission to change the sign. They had already been required to alter their logo to accommodate the special zoning district - the exterior sign was "Rite Aid
of Naples in the old awning format. They were finally approved to change to real signs and remove the awning, but had to keep the goofy
of Naples in a dated script font and the Rite Aid letters are half the size of the old ones. Stores under such requirements such as coastal commissions, historical districts, and even specialized business districts may have to jump through additional hoops to get approved, and Rite Aid probably only has so many Real Estate people to work through the processes.
From my now former company I went through the process of changing the logo on a store (the chain I worked for changed logo design and color dramatically in 2008, changed logo again in 2013 and went back to the original color, and as of 2022 still hasn't even come close to changing half the signs to the newest logo - someone is probably going to figure out who I worked for from this clue but I'm not going to confirm or deny). We had to pay out tens of thousands of dollars to the landlord as part of our lease due to the CC&R restrictions of that property. We had to pay for replacements of all shopping center way finding signage in its entirety just because our logo changed. They even got to charge us to update the pictures on their own website. It cost a fortune, but what was funny is that changing the sign on an old established store caused an immediate and sustained sales increase. I swear that this simple process to call a sign company and tell them to swap out old for new cost me a hundred hours of my own time because the lease was so darned restrictive. So if Rite Aid has stores like that, and every chain does, then again it might not be worth it to change the logo even if the store is a good performer.
Future shopping center plans could factor in. If the landlord is planning to remodel the exterior in a few years to a completely new design where the signs would have to be replaced again then they will likely wait for the project to rebrand - especially if there is landlord contribution with the remodel.
And Rite Aid is still adding stores too. Just saw a new store finalizing ground up construction in French Valley, California (an up and coming town north of Temecula). The sign is already installed and is draped currently as is typical of new California pharmacies - some new law passed about a decade ago and I've noticed that both CVS and Rite Aid install their signs then immediately cover them with white banners until soft opening day one. I guess that because of the increase in usage of pharmacies as urgent care clinics the state is afraid of someone seeing a new store not ready for customers and going there for urgent care. The fact that the state passed such a law shows that they really don't have much real work to do in Sacramento... This law was followed by the "slack space packaging law" which prohibits too much air space in food packages. Some legislator must have been sitting around eating a bag of chips on game day and decided that there was too much air in the bag so they decided to prohibit too much "air space". Forget the fact that means most manufacturers of food stuffs now have to make new secondary California approved packages, causing price increases. Never mind the fact that if there is a supply chain problem that means they're going to make for the other 49 states first causing out of stocks here. And of course never mind that maybe the package's empty space was for the protection of the product?!! Ever since this caused the shrinkage of the Frito-Lay bags I've noticed that there are far more tiny shards left at the bottom of the bag - meaning more waste and again more cost. Yes I'm getting carried away here. Government regulations add to every part of this rebrand, time and money, causing some stores to get sent to the back burner.
Signage is a tricky process. I doubt they will ever get to 100% changed. Pretty impressive how far they have gotten in such a short time though. Just can't assume no new sign means no future for the store.